What is Active Network?Active Network is a technology and media company that helps millions of people find and register for things to do and helps organisations increase participation in theirevents and activities.

How to Host a Greener Event

More and more people are becoming increasingly aware of their personal impact on the environment and making adjustments to their daily routine to reduce consumption. Event organisers are also looking for a way to "green things up", do more with less waste, and in the process, increase event prestige and appeal among a growing crowd of socially conscious athletes. Here are a few tips on how to turn your event into a green event...

1. Develop a statement of your eco-friendly intentions. Include a section on your website which shares with the public all of the things your event staff is doing to reduce the event's environmental footprint. Are you using only recycled materials, minimizing electric consumption, making a donation of trees to the local community, etc.

2. Use paperless technology to manage your event. Requiring your attendees to register online will eliminate the largest source of wasted paper for any event. Participant data will also be housed online and updated in real-time meaning that you do not need to hold on to folders and folders of hard copy attendee records.

3. Move your event marketing campaign online. Direct mail and print advertising used to be the norm for all event marketing but more and more event organizers are opting to focus on paperless channels to get the word out. Email can be a very affective tool for advertising and in many cases offers the event organizer advanced reporting which makes it easy to gage the effectiveness of a campaign. Not only is it easier to track the success of an online marketing campaign, it is also less expensive and saves paper.

4. Reduce automobile emissions. If you have people traveling to your events, try to hire a shuttle van from various points in the area so that people can share a ride. This will not only reduce carbon dioxide emissions but also give your attendees an opportunity to get to know some other people and maybe make a new friend!

5. Use materials that can be reused or recycled. If you must print handouts or signs, create them in a way which you can reuse them for your next event. Also, try to use printing materials with non-toxic inks and post-consumer paper content if possible.

6. Spread the word. Use your platform as an event organizer to spread the Go Green message to your hundreds or thousands of participants. They will leave the event not only proud of their accomplishments but feeling that they were a part of something larger.

Active Network is a technology and media company that helps millions of people find and register for things to do and helps organisations increase participation in their events and activities.